


Mountain Life - Part 3

by OtterAndTerrier



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: #roguerobin017, Action/Adventure, Camping, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jedifest Rogue Robin, Pre-ESB, Rogue Robin 2017, some UST for good measure, something unexpected happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10959300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtterAndTerrier/pseuds/OtterAndTerrier
Summary: The third installment ofMountain Life, originally byorgananationand followed byMountain Life - Part 2, written by me. Leia encounters some technical difficulties and Han offers help.





	Mountain Life - Part 3

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mountain Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143239) by [organanation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/organanation/pseuds/organanation). 



Leia felt herself falling… and then landing on uneven earth, rolling, and further falling down the gully that had been hidden from sight under the thick flora. The darkness that surrounded her when she landed told her that the gully was not on the hillside, but into the mountain, which was lucky. She would still be falling to her death otherwise.

Not that her current predicament was ideal. As she lay curled up on the ground, trying to catch her breath, Leia started to feel every aching spot, on her shoulder, her hip, her back. Her ankle hurt, too, from when she’d lost her footing. She was beginning to become aware once again of the sounds around her, and it was soon after that she heard the scraping noises of someone going through the same descent that she just had.

Swallowing back a cry of pain, she rolled over to get out of the way, but whoever was joining her had had the sense of watching his step to avoid tumbling down the ditch, and landed with a skid safely away from Leia.

_ Please don’t be Han _ , she thought desperately during the two seconds before she heard Han’s voice hovering above her.

“Are you hurt?”

She started to uncoil herself, wincing as she worked her bruised muscles. “Fine. Help me get up.”

He grabbed her hand with one of his and used his other hand to take a hold of her elbow to avoid pulling too hard. Leia only felt a mild discomfort as she got up, but fell against Han with a yelp when she tried to stand on both feet.

“Woha. I don’t think you’re fine after all, Princess,” Han said, clutching at her shoulders.

Gritting her teeth, Leia pushed against his chest to put some distance between them, adjusting her weight to rest on her unhurt foot.  _ This _ was exactly why she would have preferred if Luke or Chewie had come instead. He was still clutching at her shoulders and staring at her, glaring at him...

“Don’t say anything,” she warned, giving him a last fixing look before averting her gaze and stepping away from his arms. “This  _ is  _ the right way—the only way forward, actually, and  _ this _ wasn’t marked. But I… I should have been more cautious.”

Han’s expression became smug—and in that moment, she realized he hadn’t been looking at her with smugness, but concern. She’d just expected smug because part of her thought she deserved it.

“So what you’re sayin’ is that, for once in your life, you shoulda stopped giving orders and listened to other people?”

Leia gave him a dirty look. Why did it seem like he only smiled when he thought he’d won one of their quarrels?

“Yes. I should have listened to  _ Luke _ .”

Han opened his mouth to retort, but precisely in that moment, Luke’s head popped a few meters above.

“Everything okay down there? Can you climb out?”

Chewie was leaning into view as well, growling something Leia didn’t catch, so instead she answered Luke. “That’s a question for later; you two need to come down. There’s no way to go around the thicket up there, and it would take us too long to try a different direction. I need to check the map, but I think, if we follow the ditch for a mile or two…”

Leia gasped and nearly tripped: forgetting about her sprained ankle, she accidentally stepped on it as she turned to look at their path. 

“... then we should be able to… get back on track,” she finished through gritted teeth, her body tightening in pain. Instinctively, she tried to sit down—a pair of strong hands grabbed her firmly before she could lose her balance and helped lower her down.

“What happened?” Luke yelled, drawing his blaster as he squinted to see through the shadows below.

“It’s her ankle,” Han yelled back, but Leia cut him off.

“Just get down here, we need to get moving!”

“All right, we’re going!” they heard Luke say, before he began his careful descent, followed by Chewie.

Han turned to Leia, frowning down at her, hands on his hips. Leia looked away.

“Funny, now you mention it… how exactly are you planning to get movin’, Your Highness?”

“I’ll be fine, I’ll… pull through and… what are you doing?” she snapped in outrage as Han crouched down, took hold of her foot and gingerly removed her boot, examining her ankle.

“You keep puttin’ weight on it, you’ll make it worse. Won’t be able to walk for weeks,” he said, looking up at her.

“So what do you suggest,  _ Doctor _ Solo? Should I put some ice on it and stay here in the middle of the mountain while the rest of you finish this mission?” She’d meant to sound biting and sarcastic, but there was a tinge of bitterness in her voice.

“I’ll carry you.”

Leia turned her head so fast to glare at him that she hurt her neck.

“What?”

“We have a sticky cold pack, we’ll wrap it around your ankle and I’ll carry you on my back,” Han said, as if that preposterous suggestion was the only solution. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be.

“It’s the only solution,” Han said.

Luke and Chewie finally scrambled down to the bottom of the ditch and walked over to where Leia still sat; her bootless foot, pant-leg rolled up and sock rolled down, still gently held up in Han’s hands as he squatted in front of her.

“Is it bad?” Luke asked, stooping down to also examine Leia’s ankle as if it was an exhibition piece. Leia bit back a groan.

As much as she appreciated her comrades’ concerns, all this attention made her feel worse than the pain. She felt stupid for having fallen and rolled down—she was still covered in dirt and grass—and she was frustrated for having become a liability to this mission, after having stressed to the others how important it was to be done with it as soon as possible.

“Get the medkit and hand me the cold pack,” Han instructed. Once Luke had done that, Han carefully brushed his hand up and down her ankle and calf, to wipe off dirt that might cause the cold pack to become unstuck. 

Leia’s fingers dug into the earth as she tried not to shiver at the touch. 

_ What is wrong with you?! _

She felt cold and refocused her eyes to see Han attaching the cold pack around her ankle, tight but relieving at the same time.

“Thanks,” she muttered. She let him put her boot back on, to distract him from her flustered face.  _ Annoyment. I’m annoyed.  _ She wished Luke and Chewie weren’t staring.

“Now hop on,” Han said, turning his back to her in his still crouched position.

“Han, no, I’ll… I’ll hold onto you and hop along, you don’t have to carry me—”

“I thought you said we need to move, fast?”

Leia gritted her teeth, fighting with herself. “Fine. All right. But if you ever use this to… to brag, or—”

“C'mon! Me?” Seeing that Leia was not moving, he threw his arms up and said, “Fine, ‘m not tellin’ a soul! Happy now?”

“That’s not the word I’d use,” Leia mumbled. With Luke’s help, she climbed onto Han’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Han stood up slowly to adjust his balance, his hands holding the back of Leia’s knees to avoid touching her ankle.

“You ready?” Han asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

_ No, _ Leia thought, wondering if he could feel her vibrating under her skin, and berating herself for being so foolish.  _ It’s just a man. An associate, even a friend sometimes, but nothing more. You’ve been around good-looking men before, Organa—nicer men, at that. Get over yourself. _

“Yes.”

Han smiled at her—this time, it wasn’t teasing; it wasn’t one of his cocky “I-win-this-round” smirks. It was a genuine, unadulterated smile… just for her.

“All right, then. Let’s go, Princess.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Phase Three of the **Jedifest 2017 Rogue Robin Challenge** , callsign #roguerobin017.
> 
> I'm sorry to say that this when the story ends, as far as I'm concerned. It's been... quite a challenge, and it was fun to make it through to the end, but I'm eager to go back to my cuddly, non-adventure based writing, lol.
> 
> Thanks again to **organanation** for providing the original story, and I hope you all enjoyed the ride!


End file.
